Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Do 8mm bullets have to be so dumpy?

This was the standard German bullet for the 8x57 during WW2. It had a BC of around 0.575 and weighed 198 grains.




There's not much demand for 8mm bullets compared to other bore sizes. But still, why do all major manufacturers choose such dumpy shapes?

I'm surprised no civil manufacturer has copied the bullet above. It holds up well even compared to the low-drag bullets of 2018.

I'm sure you could copy that shape and put a plastic tip on it.


Some of the better-shaped 8mm bullets and their advertised BCs:

Nosler 200 Accubond: 0.450
Hornady 170 SST: 0.445
Sierra 220 GameKing: 0.524
Sierra 200 Matchking: 0.505
Hornady 196 BTHP: 0.525


All a lot lower, and a couple of those are match bullets, too. Is it really so hard to make a longer, sleeker ogive?

It bothers me the Germans can come out with this bullet a century ago, and no mainstream manufacturers will make a bullet to match in 2018. Would make the 8x57 and 325 just a little more attractive.

.323 is just not much of a "going thing" hence the lack of innovation. I used to want to put together an 8mm-06. Probably because of reading too much Askins Jr. 'Stick will be along momentarily to tell us all how stupid we are and how superior .338 diameter is.

Bigen Schticken.....Heil!

Nosler Accubond and Sierra 220 both exceed G1s of 500 and there are some other around too.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/new-8mm-323-cutting-edge-mth-bullets.152842/
I've been meaning to try these in my 8mm mag, but I'm broke plus I have a bunch of 200 gr partitions on hand that print half inch or better 100 yard groups. That dumpy bullet hammered a big Utah bull elk for me at 450 yards. I found it against the far shoulder blade looking just like a partition should.

Just wait until the 8mm Creedmoor comes out.

It's a conspiracy from the ammunition manufacturers designed to mask the overall superiority of the 8x57is in order to sell more of the latest "wonder" cartridge.

When’s the last time you heard of someone using an 8mm for long range? And what percentage of shooters do you think even own an 8mm. I’m guessing it’s less than 5% Bullet makers most likely don’t think the market is there to invest in new r&d and product lines.

PPU has a 250 grain BT FMJ with a good BC and Cutting edge was also working on a 256 grain version but not sure if that one is in production as the fast twist required makes it a small niche market. The 8mm is alive and well in Europe so there must be some more options out there.

The 8mm is like the 25 caliber and some others with a slower twist. Most 8mm's have either the 1-9.45 metric twist or 1-10 for most stateside 8mms. This limits the caliber to about a 250 grain VLD type bullet maximum. This and the limited sales/popularity don't help the bullet picture.

The 200 gr AccuBond, the only 8mm AccuBond, sits at 0.450.


Now if the Germans could make a 198 grain bullet with a 0.575 BC over a century ago, lead core, nothing special, I would have thought Nosler could make their 200 gr AccuBond with a 0.575 BC.


And what bothers me is that unlike most other old cartridges, there is no bullet I've seen with which one can make a load to match the WW2-era
ballistics. I don't care about sleek bullets too much if a cartridge has a dumpy-bullet history. But it seems a shame when a cartridge with a sleek-bullet history has only dumpy bullets available.







Lutz Möller makes some IIRC. Not sure how well they work in the real world. Availability and price is always a problem with niche manufacturers, though.

It's a crying shame those dumpy old 8mm bullets work so poorly.

Just maybe it's because the market share of all things 8mm is just slightly greater than that of 8-track tapes. The sickening thuds of failure from the last two commercial 8mm rounds are still echoing in the hallways at Remington and Winchester. 15 thousandths North and South of .323 lay two very popular and efficient bore sizes. Considering all that, just how much money do you think the bullet makers should flush down the crapper in pursuit of your notions?

The Germans love 'em so much they make two sizes. Maybe they can help you.

Problem is Germans seem to like driven hunts at close range, and often with weird bullets.

Apparently this is the peak of Teutonic hunting projectiles.

I'm not even sure which end goes frontwards.

Cool! Everyone should try a bullet with a Scharfrand at least once. Not sure how I feel about the Torpedoheck.

Actually, the .338" dia. bullet @ 200 gr. is "dumpier"






Don't do much elk, moose or big bear hunting, but those "dumpy" 8mm's flat work on hill country hoglets.







and the occasional Axis





Ya!

GWB

Here's another one with an estimated G7 BC of .339: https://hammerbullets.com/product/323-248g-hammer-hunter/

My GF came in the room last night wearing a kernhalterille and it was quite fun getting it off her.

Seriously, to the lack of ELD 8mm bullets I say, meh. For what I use an 8mm for (once in a blue moon in the eastern deer woods) the current bullet offerings are just peachy. I'm not likely to jump up and start a career as a long range shootist, and if I do it likely won't be with an 8x57 Mauser. Truth be told, the only 8mm bullets I bought over the last ten years were a couple boxes of Sierra 175 spitzers, which just happen to shoot keenly for me and I bet they'll kill a 120 pound whitetail at 50 yards just fine if I ask them to. I think a nice 8mm 190 grain round nose would be skookum.

Pretty high, but if you run the numbers, it's a form factor of only 1.00, so the main reason for the BC is simply weight, which at 248 grains, is I think a little much for 8x57.

The bullet at the top of the page has a form factor somewhere between 0.9 and 0.95.




Or you could use one of those cutting-edge ping-pong balls I posted above, with a literal cutting edge and a dozen other wunderfeatures.

Most of the wonder bullets we enjoy now had already been invented by them by 1930 or thereabouts. Too bad they can't stick to killing pigs very long at a stretch.

They'll probably need their asses kicked again soon. At least this time the fugging French will be on the right side, theirs!

North Fork 220's have a BC of .473.They are long,1.486 inches.The 220 Swift A-Frames are 1.330 inches with a BC of .393.Both shoot great in my 8mm RM.